The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3 map, Favela has been yanked from multiplayer playlists, according to this The Escapist report and the reason for it being is removed is supposedly because of "Muslim gamers" objecting to it.

The map depicts a shanty town in Rio de Janiro, but the controversy seems to be about bathrooms in the map that contains two paintings that contain quotes attributed to the Prophet Muhammad: "Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty." The objection is that these quotes are found in bathrooms.

"We apologize to anyone who found this image offensive. Please be assured we were unaware of this issue and that there was no intent to offend. We are working as quickly as possible to remove this image and any other similar ones we may find from our various game libraries.

We are urgently working to release a Title Update to remove the texture from Modern Warfare 3. We are also working to remove the texture from Modern Warfare 2 through a separate Title Update. Until the TU is ready, we have removed the Favela multiplayer map from online rotation.

Activision and our development studios are respectful of diverse cultures and religious beliefs, and sensitive to concerns raised by its loyal game players. We thank our fans for bringing this to our attention."

The maps will likely be back in rotation after the saying is scrubbed from them. Also it should be noted that this oversight was likely not meant to be malicious by the person(s) who put it in that particular spot in the map...

Comments

Every time someone caves in to these zealots they are that much more emboldened to make demands in the future. Fuck these assholes. If they can't behave like civilized people, and leave people in peace who are not actually harming them, then just fuck 'em. Don't engage them, don't placate them, just give them the old one finger salute and keep on doing whatever you were doing. They don't deserve the respect they demand, because of how they demand it.

Sorry, but this time I'll go against the flow. I think that religious censorship is wrong and stupid and I'm all for freedom of speech. However, this is not what we're dealing with here. Here, a company wants to sell as much as possible and limit PR issue. It's nothing to do about religion, it's all to do with catering (like changing textures, endings, dlcs, etc.) You could argue artistic freedom and in that case, the question becomes who's the creator: In this case, it's the studio. If an artist does something the studio doesn't know and they try to fix it, that's perfectly fine, they pay for his work. That's the same reason why I have two jobs, one on salary and one creating my own stuff. The stuff I create in the first instance belongs to my boss who constantly tailors it to our clients needs (or weird requests) and the second belongs to me. In this case, the studio wants to change its mind. That's all.

But that's no how people handle things these days. Avoiding material you may find offensive or don't want your children viewing is so old school. Today, you just whine and complain and force your views on others until they change it. Then you find something else to bitch about.

Also remember to revisit wherever or whatever offended you to keep those flames stoked! Never know when you might cool off and realize how asinine your making yourself and everyone who shares your beliefs look.

"If you really want to enslave people, tell them you are going to give them Total Freedom." - L. Ron Hubbard